Gasification of heavy residue with solid catalyst from slurry hydrocracking process

ABSTRACT

A cost-effective solution for the disposal of heavy residue bottoms recovered from a slurry hydrocracking process that include solid heterogeneous catalyst particles is provided by their introduction into a membrane wall gasification reactor in the form of a flowable slurry to produce a synthesis gas and, optionally, subjecting the synthesis gas to a water-gas shift reaction to produce a more hydrogen-rich product stream. Process steam and electricity are produced by recovering the sensible heat values from the hot synthesis gas.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of allowed U.S. Ser. No. 13/236,923filed on Sep. 20, 2011, the benefit of the priority of which is claimed,and the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to processes for the partial oxidation ina membrane wall gasification reactor of heavy residue bottoms recoveredfrom a slurry hydrocracking process to produce a synthesis gas.

2. Description of Related Art

In a typical refinery, crude oil is initially introduced to anatmospheric distillation column or a crude tower where it is separatedinto a variety of different components including naphtha boiling in therange 36° C. to 180° C., diesel boiling in the range 180° C. to 370° C.,and atmospheric bottoms boiling above 370° C. The atmospheric bottomsresidue is further processed in a vacuum distillation column where it isseparated into a vacuum gas oil (VGO) boiling in the range 370° C. to520° C. and a heavy vacuum residue boiling above 520° C. The VGO may befurther processed by hydrocracking to produce naphtha and diesel, or byfluid catalytic cracking (FCC) to produce gasoline and cycle oils. Theheavy vacuum residue can be treated to remove unwanted impurities orconverted into useful hydrocarbon products.

There are three principal types of reactors used in the refiningindustry: fixed bed, ebullated bed and moving bed. In a fixed bedreactor, catalyst pellets are held in place and do not move with respectto a fixed reference frame. Fixed-bed technologies have considerableproblems in treating particularly heavy charges containing highpercentages of heteroatoms, metals, and asphaltenes, as thesecontaminants cause the rapid deactivation of the catalyst and subsequentplugging of the reactor. Multiple fixed-bed reactors connected in seriescan be used to achieve a relatively high conversion of heavy feedstocksboiling above 370° C., but such design would be costly and, for certainfeedstocks, commercially impractical, e.g., catalysts must be replacedevery 3 to 4 months.

The ebullated bed reactor was developed to overcome the pluggingproblems associated with fixed bed reactors as the feedstock becomesheavier and the conversion of vacuum residue increases. In an ebullatedbed reactor, the catalyst is fluid, meaning that it will not plug-up asis possible in a fixed bed reactor. The fluid nature of the catalystalso allows for on-line catalyst replacement of a small portion of thebed which results in a high net bed activity.

The moving bed reactor combines the advantage of plug flow in a fixedbed operation and the relatively easy catalyst replacement of anebullated bed technology. The trickle-flow system allows discontinuouscatalyst replacement without interrupting the operation. Operatingconditions are more severe than for a usual fixed bed reactor, i.e., thepressure can exceed 200 atmospheres, and the temperature can be in therange of between 400° C. to 427° C. The frequency of catalystreplacement depends on the rate of deactivation. During replacement,catalyst movement is slow compared with the linear velocity of the feed.Catalyst addition and withdrawal are performed via a sluice system atthe top and bottom of the reactor. The advantage of the moving bedreactor is that the top layer of the moving bed consists of freshcatalyst. Thus, metals and salts deposited on the top of the bed movedownwards with the catalyst and are released at the bottom. Thetolerance to metals and other contaminants is therefore much greaterthan in a fixed bed reactor. With this capability, the moving bedreactor has advantages for hydroprocessing of very heavy feeds,especially when several reactors are combined in series.

The decision to use a particular type of reactor is based on a number ofcriteria including the type of feedstock, desired conversion percentage,flexibility, run length, product quality, and others. In a refinery, thedown-time for replacement or renewal of catalyst must be as short aspossible. Further, the economics of the process will generally dependupon the versatility of the system to handle feed streams containingvarying amounts of contaminants such as sulfur, nitrogen, metals and/ororganometallic compounds, such as those found in VGO, DAO and residues.

Studies have been conducted related to converting heavy vacuum residuesboiling at 520° C. and above into light hydrocarbons such as naphtha anddiesel. A slurry hydrocracking process that converts heavy vacuumresidues in the presence of hydrogen and solid catalyst particles orsoluble catalysts has been reported by Zhang et al., “A Review ofSlurry-Phase Hydrocracking Heavy Oil Technology”, in Energy & Fuels,2007, 21 (6), 3057-3062. The slurry hydrocracking technology is based onthermocracking. The process differs from the conventional thermocrackingprocesses since it mixes the feed oil, hydrogen and dispersedunsupported catalysts particles together. It appears that the hydrogenis consumed principally to cap free radicals formed by thermocracking.See Matsumura et al., “Hydrocracking Marlim Vacuum Residue With NaturalLimonite. Part 2: Experimental Cracking In A Slurry-Type ContinuousReactor”, Fuel, 2005, 84, 417-421, 420. Heavy residue oil, VGO andlow-value refractory pitch streams that normally cannot be economicallyupgraded or even blended into other products such as fuel oil orsynthetic crude oil due to their high viscosity and solids content canbe processed by slurry hydrocracking technology.

A slurry hydrocracking process is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,755,955in which a heavy hydrocarbon feedstock is mixed with coke-inhibitingadditive particles to form a slurry and passed upwardly through aconfined vertical hydrocracking zone in the presence of hydrogen and inthe absence of an active hydrogenation catalyst. A mixed effluentcontaining a gaseous phase comprising hydrogen and vaporous hydrocarbonsand a liquid phase comprising heavy hydrocarbons and particles of thecoke-inhibiting additive is removed from the reactor and separated intogaseous and liquid phases. The liquid phase is fractionated to obtain abottom stream of pitch containing additive particles and an aromaticheavy gas oil fraction. At least a portion of the pitch stream isrecycled back to form part of the feed slurry to the hydrocracking zone.The disclosed process suppresses coke formation and improves yields bycontrolling the ratio of lower polarity aromatics-to-asphaltenes in thereactor.

The catalysts used in the slurry hydrocracking process can be in theform of powdered natural ore, powdered coal, one or more water-solubleor oil-soluble salts which can contain one or more metals selected fromcobalt, molybdenum, nickel, iron, tungsten or manganese. A method forpreparing a shiny hydrocracking catalyst is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.5,474,977 in which a heteropoly acid and a sulfide or a salt of a metalselected from Group IV through Group VIII are mixed with anasphaltene-containing hydrocarbon feedstock and heated to produce anorganometallic compound. The organometallic compound is then convertedin the presence of hydrogen to produce the slurry hydrocrackingcatalyst. Other catalysts suitable for use in the slurry hydrocrackingprocess and methods for their manufacture are known in the art.

During the slurry hydrocracking process described above, the solidheterogeneous catalyst(s) must be recovered and/or removed after theircatalytic activity falls below a predetermined efficacy, i.e., when thecatalyst is deemed to be spent. One study suggests that the catalystsare single-use because they are deactivated by the high concentrationsof sulfurous and nitrogenous compounds as well as the high molecularweight organometallic complexes. Supra, Zhang et al. at 3057. The spentsolid catalyst can be contaminated with such compounds such as heavypolynuclear aromatic molecules, sulfur, nitrogen and/or metals. Disposalof the spent solid catalyst as a waste material incurs substantialexpense and entails environmental considerations.

Gasification is well known in the art and it is practiced worldwide withapplication to solids and heavy liquid fossil fuels, including refinerybottoms. The gasification process uses partial oxidation to convertcarbonaceous materials, such as coal, petroleum, biofuel, or biomasswith oxygen at high temperature, i.e., greater than 800° C., intosynthesis gas (“syngas”), steam and electricity. The synthesis gasconsisting of carbon monoxide and hydrogen can be burned directly ininternal combustion engines, or used in the manufacture of variouschemicals, such as methanol via known synthesis processes and to makesynthetic fuels via the Fischer-Tropsch process.

The major benefits for a refinery using a heavy residue gasificationprocess are that it can provide a source of hydrogen for hydroprocessingto meet the demand for light hydrocarbon products; it produceselectricity and steam for refinery use or for export and sale; it cantake advantage of efficient power generation technology as compared toconventional technologies that combust the heavy residue; and itproduces lower pollutant emissions as compared to conventionaltechnologies that combust heavy residues as a means of their disposal.Furthermore, the gasification process provides a means for the localdisposition of the heavy residues where they are produced, thus avoidingthe costs for transportation off-site and/or storage; it also providesthe potential for disposal of other refinery waste streams, includinghazardous materials. Gasification also provides a potential carbonmanagement tool, i.e., a carbon dioxide capture option can be employedif required by the local regulatory system.

Three principal types of gasifier technologies are moving bed, fluidizedbed and entrained-flow systems. Each of the three types can be used withsolid fuels, but only the entrained-flow reactor has been demonstratedto efficiently process liquid fuels. In an entrained-flow reactor, thefuel, oxygen and steam are injected at the top of the gasifier through aco-annular burner. The gasification usually takes place in arefractory-lined vessel which operates at a pressure of about 40 bars to60 bars and a temperature in the range of from 1300° C. to 1700° C.

There are two types of gasifier wall construction: refractory andmembrane. The gasifier conventionally uses refractory liners to protectthe reactor vessel from corrosive slag, thermal cycling, and elevatedtemperatures that range from 1400° C. up to 1700° C. The refractory issubjected to the penetration of corrosive components from the generationof the synthesis gas and slag and thus subsequent reactions in which thereactants undergo significant volume changes that result in strengthdegradation of the refractory materials. The replacement of refractorylinings can cost several millions of dollars a year and several weeks ofdowntime for a given reactor. Up until now, the solution has been theinstallation of a second or parallel gasifier to provide the necessarycontinuous operating capability, but the undesirable consequence of thisduplication is a significant increase in the capital costs associatedwith the unit operation.

On the other hand, membrane wall gasifier technology uses a coolingscreen protected by a layer of refractory material to provide a surfaceon which the molten slag solidifies and flows downwardly to the quenchzone at the bottom of the reactor. The advantages of the membrane wallreactor include reduced reactor dimensions as compared to other systems;an improved average on-stream time of 90%, as compared to an on-streamtime of 50% for a refractory wall reactor; elimination of the need tohave a parallel reactor to maintain continuous operation as in the caseof refractory wall reactors; and the build-up of a layer of solid andliquid slag that provides self-protection to the water-cooled wallsections.

In a membrane wall gasifier, the build-up of a layer of solidifiedmineral ash slag on the wall acts as an additional protective surfaceand insulator to minimize or reduce refractory degradation and heatlosses through the wall. Thus the water-cooled reactor design avoidswhat is termed “hot wall” gasifier operation, which requires theconstruction of thick multiple-layers of expensive refractories whichwill remain subject to degradation. In the membrane wall reactor, theslag layer is renewed continuously with the deposit of solids on therelatively cool surface. Further advantages include short start-up/shutdown times; lower maintenance costs than the refractory type reactor;and the capability of gasifying feedstocks with high ash content,thereby providing greater flexibility in treating a wider range ofcoals, petcoke, coal/petcoke blends, biomass co-feed, and liquidfeedstocks.

There are two principal types of membrane wall reactor designs that areadapted to process solid feedstocks. One such reactor uses verticaltubes in an up-flow process equipped with several burners for solidfuels, e.g., petcoke. A second solid feedstock reactor uses spiral tubesand down-flow processing for all fuels. For solid fuels, a single burnerhaving a thermal output of about 500 MWt has been developed forcommercial use.

In both of these reactors, the flow of pressurized cooling water in thetubes is controlled to cool the refractory and ensure the downward flowof the molten slag. Both systems have demonstrated high utility withsolid fuels, but not with liquid fuels.

For production of liquid fuels and petrochemicals, the key parameter isthe mole ratio of hydrogen-to-carbon monoxide in the dry synthesis gas.This ratio is usually between 0.85:1 and 1.2:1, depending upon thefeedstock characteristics. Thus, additional treatment of the synthesisgas is needed to increase this ratio up to 2:1 for Fischer-Tropschapplications or to convert carbon monoxide to hydrogen through thewater-gas shift reaction represented by CO+H₂O→CO₂+H₂. In some cases,part of the synthesis gas is burned together with some off gases in acombined cycle to produce electricity and steam. The overall efficiencyof this process is between 44% and 48%.

While gasification processes are well developed and suitable for theirintended purposes, its applications in conjunction with other refineryoperations have been limited.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a process for thedisposal of heavy residue bottoms recovered from a slurry hydrocrackingprocess that is economically valuable and environmentally friendly, andthat is capable of producing a synthesis gas and/or hydrogen that can beused as a feedstream for other processes in the same refinery.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention comprehends the processing and disposal of afeedstream comprising the heavy residue bottoms recovered from a slurryhydrocracking process that include solid heterogeneous catalystparticles by the partial oxidation of the feed material in a membranewall gasification reactor to produce a synthesis gas and/or hydrogen.

In accordance with an embodiment, the process for the gasification ofthe heavy residue bottoms that include solid heterogeneous catalystparticles includes the steps of:

-   -   a. introducing a heavy hydrocarbon feedstock into a slurry        hydrocracking zone with a predetermined amount of hydrogen and        solid heterogeneous catalyst particles based on the carbon        content of the feedstock to produce a slurry hydrocracking zone        effluent;    -   b. conveying the slurry hydrocracking zone effluent to a        separation zone to separate the slurry hydrocracking zone        effluent into converted products and heavy residue bottoms;    -   c. recovering the converted products;    -   d. preparing a flowable slurry of the heavy residue bottoms;    -   e. passing the slurry of heavy residue bottoms as a pressurized        feed into a membrane wall gasification reactor with a        predetermined amount of oxygen and steam based on the carbon        content of the feed;    -   f. subjecting the heavy residue bottoms to partial oxidation to        produce hydrogen, carbon monoxide and a slag material;    -   g. recovering the hydrogen and carbon monoxide from the reactor        in the form of a hot raw synthesis gas;    -   h. passing the hot raw synthesis gas to a steam generating heat        exchanger to cool the hot raw synthesis gas and produce steam;    -   i. recovering steam from the heat exchanger and introducing the        steam into a turbine to produce electricity; and    -   j. recovering the cooled synthesis gas.

Other aspects, embodiments, and advantages of the process of the presentinvention are discussed in detail below. Moreover, it is to beunderstood that both the foregoing information and the followingdetailed description are merely illustrative examples of various aspectsand embodiments, and are intended to provide an overview or frameworkfor understanding the nature and character of the claimed features andembodiments. The accompanying drawing is included to provideillustration and a further understanding of the various aspects andembodiments. The drawing, together with the remainder of thespecification, serves to explain principles and operations of thedescribed and claimed aspects and embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed descriptionwill be best understood when read in conjunction with the attacheddrawing which is a schematic diagram of a process for the gasificationof a feedstream comprising the heavy residue bottoms and a solidcatalyst particles from a slurry hydrocracking process in accordancewith the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The process for the production of a synthesis gas and/or hydrogen by thepartial oxidation in a membrane wall gasification reactor of afeedstream comprising the heavy residue bottoms consisting of a solidheterogeneous catalyst recovered from a slurry hydrocracking processwill be described with reference to the drawing.

In general, the integrated process and apparatus for gasification of afeedstream comprising the heavy residue bottoms and solid catalyst froma slurry hydrocracking process includes a slurry hydro cracking zone inwhich a heavy hydrocarbon feedstock is converted to light fractions, aseparation zone in which slurry hydrocracking zone effluent is separatedinto converted products and heavy residue bottoms, a membrane wallgasification reactor in which the heavy residue bottoms are partiallyoxidized to produce hydrogen and carbon monoxide as a hot raw synthesisgas and a slag material, a steam-generating heat exchanger to cool thehot raw synthesis gas, and a turbine to produce electricity from thesteam generated.

In accordance with one or more additional embodiments, a process andapparatus for gasification of the slurry hydrocracking process heavyresidue bottoms and solid catalyst further includes a water-gas shiftreaction vessel to convert carbon monoxide to hydrogen through thewater-gas shift reaction represented by CO+H₂O→CO₂+H₂, to therebyincrease the volume of hydrogen in the shifted synthesis gas.

A heavy residue bottoms gasification apparatus 10 includes a slurryhydrocracking zone 20, a separation zone 30, a membrane wallgasification reactor 40, a heat exchanger 50, a turbine 60 and awater-gas shift reaction vessel 70. Note that while the embodiment ofapparatus 10 described herein includes a water-gas shift reaction vesselto enhance the output of hydrogen by conversion of some or all of thecarbon monoxide in the synthesis gas, alternative embodiments similar toapparatus 10 can be practiced without the water-gas shift reactionvessel.

Slurry hydrocracking zone 20 includes an inlet 18 in fluid communicationwith a conduit 14 for receiving heavy hydrocarbon feedstock, a conduit12 for introducing a stream of pressurized hydrogen or ahydrogen-containing gas, and a conduit 16 for introducing a solidheterogeneous catalyst into zone 20. Slurry hydrocracking zone 20 alsoincludes an outlet 22 for discharging slurry hydrocracking zoneeffluent.

Separation zone 30 includes an inlet 24 in fluid communication withoutlet 22 of the slurry hydrocracking zone 20, an outlet 26 fordischarging converted products and an outlet 28 for discharging theremaining slurry of solid catalyst and heavy residue bottoms.

Membrane wall gasification reactor 40 includes an inlet 32 in fluidcommunication with outlet 28 of the separation zone 30, a conduit 36 forintroducing a controlled amount of a pressurized stream of oxygen or anoxygen-containing gas, and a conduit 38 for introducing a controlledamount of steam. Membrane wall gasification reactor 40 also includes anoutlet 42 for discharging hot raw synthesis gas and an outlet 34 fordischarging slag material.

Heat exchanger 50 includes an inlet 44 in fluid communication withoutlet 42 of the membrane wall gasification reactor 40, an outlet 46 fordischarging steam, and an outlet 48 for discharging cooled synthesisgas. Outlet 46 is in fluid communication with a three-way control valve52 to withdraw steam via a conduit 54 and/or to convey steam to theturbine 60. Outlet 48 is in fluid communication with another three-waycontrol valve 62 to withdraw cooled synthesis gas via a conduit 64and/or, optionally, to convey cooled synthesis gas to the water-gasshift reaction vessel 70.

Turbine 60 includes an inlet 56 in fluid communication with thethree-way control valve 52 and an electrical conductor 58 fortransmitting the electricity generated.

The optional water-gas shift reaction vessel 70 includes an inlet 68 influid communication with the three-way control valve 62 for receivingcooled synthesis gas and a conduit 66 for introducing a controlledamount of steam, and an outlet 72 for discharging the hydrogen richshifted synthesis gas product. In certain embodiments, outlet 72 is influid communication with conduit 12 via a conduit 74 to return a portionof the hydrogen to the slurry hydrocracking zone 20.

In the practice of the method of the invention, a heavy hydrocarbon feedis introduced as a pressurized feedstream via conduit 14 with apredetermined amount of hydrogen or a hydrogen-containing gas viaconduit 12 and solid heterogeneous catalyst via conduit 16 into inlet 18of the slurry hydrocracking zone 20. The heavy hydrocarbon feed isthermally cracked in the slurry hydrocracking zone 20 to produce lighthydrocarbons, such as naphtha and diesel.

The slurry hydrocracking zone effluent is discharged via outlet 22 andpassed to inlet 24 of the separation zone 30 in which the effluent isseparated into converted product discharged via outlet 26 and the heavyresidue bottoms containing the solid catalyst is discharged via outlet28.

The slurry hydrocracking heavy residue is optionally introduced intostorage vessel 35 where it can be accumulated over time, if necessary,to assure a continuous feedstream for the gasification reactor, or formixing as recycle with fresh feed to form the slurry.

In certain embodiments, at least a portion of the solid heterogeneouscatalyst contained in the slurry hydrocracking heavy residue isoptionally recycled back to the slurry hydrocracking zone 20 after thecatalyst separation step (not shown in the figure).

A flowable slurry of the heavy residue bottoms and solid catalyst isintroduced as a pressurized feedstock via inlet 32 into the membranewall gasification reactor 40 along with a predetermined amount of oxygenor an oxygen-containing gas via conduit 36 and a predetermined amount ofsteam via conduit 38. The heavy residue bottoms containing the solidcatalyst are partially oxidized in the membrane wall gasificationreactor 40 to produce hydrogen, carbon monoxide and a slag material.

As will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art, theviscosity and therefore the pumpability of the mixture of the heavybottoms and solid catalyst mixture from the separator can be affected byvarious factors, including the nature of the original feedstream, theextent of recycled materials present and the physical characteristics ofthe catalyst(s) used in the slurry hydrocracking process. If thephysical state of the heavy bottoms and catalyst mixture is solid toviscous, or a semi-solid liquid, it can be heated to a temperatureand/or the pressure raised to render it sufficiently fluid to be pumped.The temperature can range from 25° C. to 200° C. and the pressure fromone bar to 100 bars.

The slurry can be introduced into the gasifier reactor alone, or as asuspension using a carrier fluid, such as air, nitrogen, carbon dioxide,carbon monoxide, syngas, hydrogen, steam, nitrogen-free gas, low-oxygengas, oxygen-free gas, and/or a combination of these carrier fluids. Inaddition, intermediate refinery streams such as cycle oils from an FCCprocess can be used as a carrier fluid for the mixture of heavy bottomsand catalyst material.

In another embodiment where the mixture is a solid at ambienttemperature, it can be dried and pulverized by an appropriate milling orcrushing apparatus, such as one or a series of ball mills, to produce aflowable solid. It can then be introduced into the gasifier using aconventional solid feed apparatus or with a carrier fluid. In a furtherembodiment where the slurry hydrocracking zone 20 is remote from thegasification reactor 40, e.g., in another facility, heavy residuebottoms collected in the storage vessel 35 can be dried to pellets bystandard methods for easy handling.

Hydrogen and carbon monoxide are discharged from outlet 42 of themembrane wall gasification reactor 40 as hot raw synthesis gas andpassed to inlet 44 of the heat exchanger 50 to cool the hot rawsynthesis gas. The slag material, which is the final waste productresulting from the formation of ash from the solid catalyst and itscondensation on the membrane walls of gasification reactor 40, aredischarged via outlet 34. The slag material is optionally recycled vialine 34 to the slurry hydrocracking zone 20 to minimize the usage offresh catalyst after specific material quality treatments such asremoval of dust, grinding and sulfiding. The slag material is alsooptionally recycled back to the gasification reactor 40 (not shown) toincrease the content of solid ash-forming materials. This is especiallybeneficial when the minimum requirement for solid materials in thegasification reactor 40 is not provided by the heavy residue bottomsrecovered from the separation zone 30.

Cooled synthesis gas is discharged via outlet 48 and can be withdrawnvia the three-way control valve 62 and conduit 64 for use in otherdownstream processes. Steam discharged from outlet 46 of the heatexchanger 50 can be withdrawn via the three-way control valve 52 andconduit 54 and/or passed to inlet 56 of turbine 60 to produceelectricity that is transmitted via conductor outlet 58.

In certain embodiments, at least a portion of the cooled synthesis gasis conveyed to inlet 68 of the water-gas shift reaction vessel 70 withsteam introduced via conduit 66. Steam for the water-gas shift reactioncan be provided by conduit 54 from the steam-generating heat exchanger50. Carbon monoxide is converted to hydrogen in the presence of steamthrough the water-gas shift reaction represented by CO+H₂O→CO₂+H₂. Thecontent of carbon monoxide is reduced to less than 1 mole % after thewater-gas shift reaction. A mixture of hydrogen, carbon dioxide,unreacted carbon monoxide and other impurities is discharged via outlet72 as shifted synthesis gas. High purity hydrogen gas is optionallyrecovered by a process such as pressure swing adsorption (PSA), or byuse of membranes, absorption, adsorption, or a combination thereof.

The feedstocks for the slurry hydrocracking process described herein areheavy hydrocarbon feedstocks derived from natural sources includingcrude oil, bitumen, tar sands and shale oils, or from refinery processesincluding atmospheric or vacuum residue, or products from coking,visbreaker and fluid catalytic cracking operations. The heavyhydrocarbon feedstock has boiling point in the range of about 400° C. toabout 2000° C.

The slurry hydrocracking zone consists of one or more plug-flow typetubular reactors operating in the up or down flow modes. In general, theoperating conditions for the slurry hydrocracking zone include: atemperature in the range of from 350° C. to 650° C., in certainembodiments 425° C. to 540° C., in other embodiments 450° C. to 510° C.,and in further embodiments 470° C. to 500° C.; a hydrogen partialpressure in the range of from 20 bars to 200 bars, in certainembodiments 40 bars to 180 bars, and in further embodiments 60 bars to150 bars; a liquid hourly space velocity of about 0.1 h⁻¹ to about 10h⁻¹, in certain embodiments 0.1 h⁻¹ to about 4 h⁻¹, and in furtherembodiments 0.1 h⁻¹ to about 2 h⁻¹; a hydrogen feed rate of up to about3000 liters of hydrogen (normalized) per liter of oil (L/L), in certainembodiments 500 L/L to 2000 L/L, and in further embodiments 500 L/L to1000 L/L.

The solid heterogeneous catalyst used in the slurry hydrocracking zonecan include one or more catalytically active metal components selectedfrom Groups VIB, VB, VIB, VIIB, or VIII of the Periodic Table, such asiron, nickel, molybdenum, vanadium, tungsten, cobalt, ruthenium, andmixture thereof. The catalytically active metal may be present as asolid particle in elemental form or as a metal compound. Solid particlecan be produced from nanoaggregates of the metal or metal compounds, orfrom a catalyst precursor such as a metal sulfate.

Catalyst precursor decomposes or reacts in the slurry hydrocracking zoneor in a pretreatment step (not shown) to form the desired,well-dispersed and catalytically active solid particle. Precursors canalso include oil-soluble organometallic compounds containing thecatalytically active metal that thermally decomposes to form a solidparticle having catalytic activity. Other suitable precursors includemetal oxides that can be converted to catalytically active metalsulfides. In a particular embodiment, a metal oxide containing a mineralcan be used as a precursor on an inorganic refractory metal oxidesupport. For example, bauxite is a particular precursor in whichconversion of iron oxide crystals contained in this mineral provides aniron sulfide catalyst as a solid particle, where the iron sulfide afterconversion is supported on the alumina that is predominantly present inthe bauxite precursor.

In general, the operating conditions for the membrane wall gasificationreactor include a temperature in the range of from 1200° C. to 1800° C.;a pressure in the range of from 30 bars to 100 bars; a mole ratio ofoxygen-to-carbon content of the feedstock in the range of from 1:1 to5:1; a mole ratio of steam-to-carbon content of the feedstock in therange of from 0.1:1 to 10:1.

The properties of the synthesis gas subjected to the water-gas shiftreaction are a temperature in the range of from 150° C. to 400° C.; apressure in the range of from 1 bar to 60 bars; and a mole ratio ofwater-to-carbon monoxide in the range of from 5:1 to 3:1.

Distinct advantages are offered by the apparatus and processes describedherein when compared to other disposal methods for heavy residue bottomsand spent catalysts containing sulfur, nitrogen and/or organo-metalcompounds that are recovered from a slurry hydrocracking process.Valuable synthesis gas and/or hydrogen gas, process steam andelectricity can be efficiently produced for on-site refinery use. Theintegrated process of the invention can be practiced to particularadvantage when hydrogen is needed for hydroprocessing and natural gas isnot available. This is usually the case in refineries when fullconversion is required to meet the demand for cleaner and lighterproducts, such as gasoline, jet fuel, and diesel transportation fuels.

EXAMPLE

A 100 kg sample of vacuum residue boiling above 520° C. derived fromArab heavy crude oil was introduced as a pressurized feedstock into aslurry hydrocracking zone. The vacuum residue had an API gravity of 5.7degrees and contained 5.3 W % of sulfur, 0.45 W % of nitrogen, 19.5 W %of C₇-asphaltenes, 22.9 W % of CCR and 222 ppmw combined of nickel andvanadium. The slurry hydrocracking zone was operated at 420° C., 160bars and liquid hourly space velocity of 0.5 h⁻¹. The catalyst wasmolybdenum sulfide on a solid support. The slurry hydrocrackingconversion of vacuum residue was 85 W % and the resultant process yieldsare summarized in Table 1 below. The total hydrogen consumption was 1.6W % of the feedstock processes.

TABLE 1 Slurry Hydrocracking Yields Product Boiling Point Yields W %Light Gases C₁-C₄ + H₂S 8.7 Naphtha C₅-170° C. 0.9 Gas oil 170-350° C.26.2 Vacuum Gas oil 350-520° C. 30.5 Pitch >520° C. 35.3 Total 101.6

After the separation of converted products, the heavy residue and spentcatalyst were conveyed to a membrane wall gasification reactor. Thegasification reactor was operated at 1045° C. and 28 bars. The ratio ofsteam-to-carbon was 0.6:1 by weight. The ratio of oxygen-to-carbon was1:1 by weight. Heavy residue bottoms were partially oxidized to producehydrogen, carbon monoxide and a slag material. Hydrogen and carbonmonoxide were recovered as a hot raw synthesis gas and passed to a heatexchanger. The cooled raw synthesis gas was sent to a water-gas shiftreaction vessel to increase the hydrogen yield. The water-gas shiftreaction was conducted at 318° C. and 1 bar. The mole ratio ofsteam-to-carbon monoxide is 3:1.

The product yields are summarized in Table 2. As can be seen from acomparison of the data from Tables 1 and 2, 100 Kg of vacuum residueproduced 8.7 Kg of light gases, 57.6 Kg of distillates (naphtha, gas oiland vacuum gas oil) and 35.3 Kg of pitch, from which 9.6 kg of hydrogengas was produced from gasification.

TABLE 2 Gasification Yields Raw Synthesis Shifted Heavy Residue Gas (viaSynthesis Bottoms Oxygen (via Steam (via outlet 42 Steam (via Gas (via(via outlet 28) conduit 36) conduit 38) and inlet 68) conduit 66) outlet72) Stream Kg Kg Kg Kg Kg Kg Total Pitch 35.0 (containing ash) Pitch(containing 34.0 hydrocarbons) Oxygen 35.0 H₂/CO CH₄ 0.2 0.2 H₂ 5.6 9.6CO 58.9 2.9 CO₂ 12.6 100.6 H₂O 17.6 7.9 51.7 23.5 H₂S 0.7 0.7 COS 0.10.1 N₂ 0.5 0.5 Ar 0 0 NH₃ 0 0 Total 35.0 35.0 17.6 86.6 51.7 138.3Material 98.9 Balance Total MB Oxygen 98.6

The method and system of the present invention have been described aboveand in the attached drawing; however, modifications derived from thisdescription will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art andthe scope of protection for the invention is to be determined by theclaims that follow.

The invention claimed is:
 1. An integrated process for the gasificationof heavy residue bottoms recovered from a slurry hydrocracking processto produce synthesis gas, the bottoms containing spent solidheterogeneous catalyst particles, the process comprising: a. introducinga heavy hydrocarbon feedstock into a slurry hydrocracking zone with apredetermined amount of hydrogen based on the carbon content of thefeedstock and solid heterogeneous catalyst to produce a slurryhydrocracking zone effluent; b. conveying the slurry hydrocracking zoneeffluent to a separation zone to separate the slurry hydrocracking zoneeffluent into converted products and heavy residue bottoms containingspent catalyst; c. recovering the converted products; d. preparing aflowable slurry of the heavy residue bottoms and spent catalyst; e.passing the slurry of heavy residue bottoms and spent catalyst as apressurized feed into a membrane wall gasification reactor with apredetermined amount of oxygen and steam based on the carbon content ofthe feed; f. subjecting the heavy residue bottoms to partial oxidationto produce hydrogen, carbon monoxide and a slag material; g. recoveringthe hydrogen and carbon monoxide from the reactor in the form of a hotraw synthesis gas; h. passing the hot raw synthesis gas to a steamgenerating heat exchanger to cool the hot raw synthesis gas and producesteam; i. recovering steam from the heat exchanger and introducing thesteam into a turbine to produce electricity; j. recovering the cooledsynthesis gas; and k. recovering excess slag material from the membranewall gasification reactor and recycling the recovered material to theinlet of the membrane wall gasification reactor to increase the contentof solid ash-forming materials in the membrane wall gasification reactorfeedstock.
 2. The process of claim 1, wherein the carrier fluid for themixture of heavy bottoms and spent catalyst material is cycle oil froman FCC process.
 3. The process of claim 2, wherein the mixture is at atemperature range from 25° C. to 200° C.
 4. The process of claim 2,wherein the mixture is at a pressure from 1 bar to 100 bar.
 5. Theprocess of claim 1, wherein the mixture of heavy bottoms and catalystmaterial is solid at ambient temperature.
 6. The process of claim 5,wherein the solid mixture is dried and pulverized.
 7. The process ofclaim 6, wherein the pulverized mixture is introduced into the gasifierusing a solid feed apparatus or a carrier fluid.
 8. An integratedprocess for the gasification of heavy residue bottoms recovered from aslurry hydrocracking process to produce synthesis gas, the bottomscontaining spent solid heterogeneous catalyst particles, the processcomprising: a. introducing a heavy hydrocarbon feedstock into a slurryhydrocracking zone with a predetermined amount of hydrogen based on thecarbon content of the feedstock and solid heterogeneous catalyst toproduce a slurry hydrocracking zone effluent; b. conveying the slurryhydrocracking zone effluent to a separation zone to separate the slurryhydrocracking zone effluent into converted products and heavy residuebottoms containing spent catalyst; c. recovering the converted products;d. preparing a flowable slurry of the heavy residue bottoms and spentcatalyst; e. passing the slurry of heavy residue bottoms and spentcatalyst as a pressurized feed into a membrane wall gasification reactorwith a predetermined amount of oxygen and steam based on the carboncontent of the feed; f. subjecting the heavy residue bottoms to partialoxidation to produce hydrogen, carbon monoxide and a slag material; g.recovering the hydrogen and carbon monoxide from the reactor in the formof a hot raw synthesis gas; h. passing the hot raw synthesis gas to asteam generating heat exchanger to cool the hot raw synthesis gas andproduce steam; i. recovering steam from the heat exchanger andintroducing the steam into a turbine to produce electricity; j.recovering the cooled synthesis gas; and k. recovering excess slagmaterial from the membrane wall gasification reactor and introducing itinto the slurry hydrocracking zone to minimize the usage of fresh solidheterogeneous catalyst.
 9. The process of claim 8, wherein the recoveredslag material is treated by grinding the slag material.
 10. The processof claim 9, wherein the recovered slag material is treated by theremoval of dust from the ground material.
 11. The process of claim 9,wherein the recovered slag material is treated by sulfiding the groundslag material.
 12. The process of claim 8, wherein the carrier fluid forthe mixture of heavy bottoms and spent catalyst material is cycle oilfrom an FCC process.
 13. The process of claim 12, wherein the mixture isat a temperature range from 25° C. to 200° C.
 14. The process of claim12, wherein the mixture is at a pressure from 1 bar to 100 bar.
 15. Theprocess of claim 8, wherein the mixture of heavy bottoms and spentcatalyst material is solid at ambient temperature.
 16. The process ofclaim 15, wherein the solid mixture is dried and pulverized.
 17. Theprocess of claim 16, wherein the pulverized mixture is introduced intothe slurry hydrocracking zone using a solid feed apparatus or a carrierfluid.